(LE MARS)–Le Mars Police are investigating a traffic accident that claimed the life of a pedestrian Thursday night.
Police began their investigation about 7:30 p-m in the 13-hundred block of Highway Three East, near the city of Le Mars Willow Creek Golf Course.
Investigators say they determined a pedestrian was struck by an eastbound vehicle and died as a result of the injuries.
The accident is still being investigated and other information, such as the name of the person who died, will be released after family members are notified.
Police are being assisted by Le Mars Fire and Ambulance as well as the Plymouth County Sheriff’s and Medical Examiner’s Offices.
Fair success celebrated at annual meeting
(LE MARS)–“The Best Five Days of Summer” will be guided by the same officers for the 2011 Plymouth County Fair.
During the annual meeting of the 4-H and Agricultural Society Thursday night in Le Mars, Fair Board chairman Terry Reuter said a rain storm didn’t dampen the fair’s popularity.
Fair Board Treasurer Tom Galles reported income reflected an admission increase.
Galles also reported money borrowed by the Fair Board has been paid off putting the association in a debt-free position. Entertainment tops fair expenses with the 2010 total of 54-thousand dollars.
The 2011 Plymouth County Fair is July 27– July 31.
Directors whose term expired at the annual meeting were all re-elected. They include Galles, Brad Harvey, Bob Kabisch, Jeff Klemme, Candice Farrer, Matt Reuter, Gregg Roepke, Loren Schnepf, and Gail Schoenrock. Gary Ellensohn of rural Le Mars was also nominated as a fair board member but was not elected
Members of the 4-H and Agricultural Society re-elected their officers following the annual meeting Thursday night in Le Mars. They are Fair Board Chairman Terry Reuter; Vice Chairman Tony Schroeder; and Secretary Gail Schoenrock, all of of rural Le Mars, and Treasurer Tom Galles of Le Mars.
Reuter recognized the Fair Board Member of the Year, Rich Benson of rural Remsen, who headed Ticket Sales. The Rookie of the Year award went to Kevin Pratt.
Hotel-Motel Local Option Sales Tax Applications available beginning Nov. 15
(LE MARS)–Applications for funds visitors and others who stay in Le Mars pay will be accepted for the next round of funding beginning Monday.
Information about the annual Le Mars Convention Visitors Bureau Hotel/Motel Sales tax funding indicates about 40-thousand dollars will be available beginning next July.
Application forms will be available at City Hall or online at www.lemarsiowa.com beginning Monday.
Applications need to be returned no later than Friday, December 31st at noon.
Le Mars non-profit and not-for-profit organizations qualify for C-V-B Hotel-Motel Sales Tax Funds.
The Le Mars Convention Visitors Bureau Advisory Board reviews and recommends funding awards. The final decision is made by the Le Mars City Council.
Driver to be tried for chain-reaction crash November 22
(LE MARS)–A trial date is set for a truck driver charged after nine people were injured in a seven-vehicle collision last month.
Forty-four-year-old David Anderson of Yale, Michigan was driving a semi that failed to stop in a construction zone on Highway 75 near Struble.
Anderson is charged with failing to stop in an assured clear distance; failing to comply with safety regulation rules and exceeding the maximum hours of service for a truck driver.
Anderson has pleaded not guilty. The trial set set for November 22nd. Prosecutors have filed notice of plans to seek jail time.
‘Great Garage Sale’ three-day run underway to preserve Plymouth County history
(LE MARS)–“Treasures” of all kinds are being sold to help to preserve the history of Plymouth County.
The Plymouth County Historical Museum’s 11th annual “Great Garage and Bake Sale” began with a sneak preview Thursday.
Everything from a baby grand piano to an embroidered doll will be featured in a silent auction at this year’s fund raiser.
The sale is today from 9 in the morning until six at night and Saturday from nine until noon. Julie Leaverton of Le Mars is again chairing the sale with the help of volunteers.
A bake sale and concession stand will be open throughout the sale.
Armistice Day storm survivor is fruitful in Orange City
(ORANGE CITY)–A tree that survived the 1940 Armistice Day blizzard is still growing in Orange City.
I-S-U Extension Horticulturist Melissa O’Rourke found the tree when she was asked to look at an ash tree in Orange City.
The apple tree is located on city right-of-way between the properties of Ron and Faye Hofmeyer and their neighbors, Lynn and Denise Sneller.
O’Rourke took photos of the tree and sent them along with samples to an I-S-U horticulture professor.
Dr. Paul Domoto told O’Rourke he believed the tree pre-dated 1940 and that the variety is known as a “Ben Davis” apple tree. She was told that prior to the Armistice Day Freeze of 1940, the Ben Davis was the number one apple grown in Iowa.
Temperatures dropped quickly and deeply on Veteran’s Day 70 years ago. Due to heavy wet snow and ice accumulation and a sudden hard freeze, the majority of apple trees in Iowa were destroyed.
O’Rourke says it’s amazing to her that the tree has survived all these years–not only from the blizzard but with everything that’s happened since.
Texas man dies in Milford plane crash
(MILFORD)–Dickinson County authorities have released the name of the man who died when a plane crashed Wednesday afternoon.
Authorities say the pilot who was killed in the plane crash was 67-year-old Geary Gearn from Canyon, Texas. Gearn was the only person in the plane. The wreckage was found in southwest Dickinson County after a plane that had been flying low was reported to have crashed.
The sheriff’s office says the FAA was on scene Thursday morning and has completed their on-site investigation. Their findings will be turned over to the NTSB. The federal agency will make the final report on the incident.
Traffic enforcement effort targets safety belt use
(ORANGE CITY)–Traffic safety is the focus of a Sioux County Sheriff’s office effort from November 23rd through November 29th.
Ten people died during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend in Iowa last year and eight the previous year.
The Sioux County Sheriff’s office will join more than 400 other Iowa agencies with a message of “Click it or Ticket, Day and Night.” The safety belt enforcement is aimed at savings lives.
Sheriff’s Deputy and Captain, Jamie Van Voorst says the biggest highway traffic safety challenge is convincing motorists to buckle up day and night. By wearing safety belts, the sheriff’s deputy says your odds of surviving a crash and reducing the extent of injuries increase by 50 percent.
Snow and ice on Denison area roads
(DENISON)–Roads in the Denison area are 100 percent snow and ice covered, according to the Iowa State Patrol. A traffic accident involving several vehicles has been reported near Denison this morning.
Missing Missouri toddler found safe in Iowa
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) Authorities say a 2-year-old girl who was taken by a stranger from her western Missouri home has been found safe in Iowa.
The Cass County Sheriff’s Department says two people were with Syah (SY’-uh) Duffey in a vehicle stopped by the Iowa State Highway Patrol near the Des Moines suburb of Mitchellville.
The stop was made around 5:45 p.m. Thursday, about nine hours after Syah’s mother turned the toddler over to a woman who showed up at their home in East Lynne, Mo. Authorities said the woman claimed she was with a state agency and needed to remove the child from the home.
The woman had been driving a van with Iowa license plates.
No other details were immediately released about the two people found with Syah.
3 teens charged in Urbandale school bomb threat
URBANDALE, Iowa (AP) Urbandale police have charged three teenagers in connection with a bomb threat at Urbandale High School.
KCCI-TV in Des Moines reports Thursday that two of the three 16-year-old students claimed to discover the original bomb threat letter and gave it to school officials. The three students are charged with first-degree harassment.
Urbandale High School Principal Richard Hutchinson says the note said “there was a bomb in the building and it was going to go off at noon.” Hutchinson told the school’s 1,300 students and teachers to evacuate.
Other bomb threats have been reported recently at schools in Iowa. Police say the arrests should be a warning for students who may want to be copy cats.
Dump truck driver dies in Dubuque County crash
ASBURY, Iowa (AP) The driver of a dump truck died in Dubuque County when the vehicle rolled onto its side, throwing the driver from the vehicle.
The Dubuque County Sheriff’s Department identified the driver on Thursday as 43-year-old Timothy Eubanks of Dubuque. Sheriff’s officials say it appears Eubanks failed to negotiate a turn and rolled the vehicle on its side. Eubanks was thrown from the dump truck.
Eubanks was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. Authorities say the accident remains under investigation.
Inspections chief, incoming GOP leaders at odds
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) The head of the Iowa state agency in charge of inspecting hospitals and nursing homes has defended himself against accusations he has been too aggressive toward the industry.
Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals head Dean Lerner tells The Des Moines Register in a Thursday story that incoming Iowa House Speaker Kraig Paulsen is “blindly endorsing” industry-fueled attacks on state regulators. GOP Gov.-elect Terry Branstad has said he would choose new leadership for the department.
Paulsen, a Republican from Hiawatha, said he thinks Lerner has created an adversarial relationship that “is starting to damage the quality of health care.” About 40,000 elderly and disabled people live in 730 Iowa care facilities.
Judge issues injunction against Iowa property buy
NORTH LIBERTY, Iowa (AP) The city of North Liberty and a development group face a temporary injunction keeping them from buying land for a new University of Iowa Community Credit Union.
The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports a Johnson County District Court judge on Wednesday issued the temporary injunction at the request of more than 20 plaintiffs. The group include local residents and property owners. The newspaper reports residents have said the city hasn’t been upfront with information about the deal.
The city has been working to bring the credit union’s new headquarters to North Liberty. City officials say it would increase economic growth and bring jobs.
The court is to determine the injunction’s status at a hearing Jan. 4.
North Liberty is about eight miles north of Iowa City.
Iowa apartment manager sued for sex discrimination
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) The U.S. Department of Justice is suing the manager and owners of a low-income apartment for the elderly and disabled people in Waterloo, accusing them of sexual discrimination.
The justice department filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday against Michael Nieman, the onsite manager of Park Towers Apartments, and its owners, J.S. Property Management L.C., and Elders Inc.
Telephone messages left for Nieman and J.S. Property Management were not immediately returned. The president of Elders Inc., Darwin Dirksen, referred questions to attorney Lynn Smith.
Smith says they will vigorously defend the case and that the claims are without merit.
The lawsuit claims Nieman made comments about women’s bodies, made sexual gestures and offered to exchange rent, cable television and other services for sexual favors.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
